The push for more extensive on-site medical care comes after a long period of school budget cuts that have limited the presence of a health care staff at many public schools.

The numbers of nurses in schools has been shrinking in many states, Landro notes. ” According to the National Association of School Nurses, just 45% of public schools have a full-time nurse; 25% have no nurse at all.”

I dropped off my six-year-old at first grade today, for his second week of the school year. He bounded into the class with his head held high, chatting happily with the boy behind him in line. So far, he loves it.

But last week, there was no homework as the kids were getting used to school. This is the week it begins. I’m more than a little nervous about how the homework issue will play out.

Last year, when Paul was in a good mood and not too exhausted after his long day at school and aftercare (we working parents get home late), he could do his homework in minutes. But when he didn’t want to do the work, for whatever reason a five-year-old can come up with, it became a battle of wills that could drag on and set the household in an uproar.

Playing with puzzle can help children develop the ability to focus on a task, a later predictor of completing college.

Young children who can sit still and focus are more likely to graduate from college than children who are easily distracted, according to a new study from Oregon State University.

Researchers made use of data that spanned 25 years, tracking a group of 430 preschool-age children through age 21. Parents were asked to rate their children on such behaviors as “playing with a single toy for long periods of time,” or “gives up easily” when a task or games gets hard.

“We were interested in identifying early predictors of later success,” said Megan McClelland, early childhood research core director at OSU’s Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, and a lead author on the study.

“We know that early academic skills predict later academic stills,” she said. “But the ability to pay attention and focus are foundational skills that help kids persist through difficult tasks when they need to.”

She was quick to add that academic skills are critical, and that “aptitude part is part of the equation.”

Still, she said, “There are a lot of very smart people who have difficulty finishing tasks.”

It seems like the beginning of a porn movie. A serious man with a microscope looks startled (or is he intrigued?) when three glamazons burst into his lab.

Apparently they are there to prove that girls can rock science in micro-mini skirts and five-inch stiletto heels. Look! Makeup is chemistry! Ooooh, the inside of a smart phone is sort of, like, techie!! OMG, a lipstick looks like the “I” in science!

Wall Street Journal readers responded by the hundreds when we asked them recently, “What’s the best advice you were ever given?” Both on Journal Community and in the responses we captured through social media (below), we heard words of wisdom from parenting to education, from personal finance to success in the workplace. Feel free to give us yet more advice in the comments.

As more high school students graduate early, some parents worry they’ll miss out on the social rituals of senior year.

Getting kids to slow down in school isn’t most parents’ biggest worry. Making sure they finish high school and college on time is a more common problem.

That wasn’t the case for parents of the teens I interviewed for my “Work & Family” column this week, about a trend toward students finishing high school in three years. Most parents of these fast-track kids actually wished they would slow down a little and smell the flowers.

A growing number of states are cutting short the traditional four-year high school experience for students who can earn the required credits; some are even giving scholarships to three-year grads.

This enables academically advanced students to move on faster and bypass the senior slump, when many forget what they have learned.

Across America, public school parents who want their children to excel academically and experience extracurricular activities are paying extra fees – totaling thousands of dollars in some cases. WSJ reporter Stephanie Simon details several such stories today in Public Schools Charge Kids for Basics, Frills. From school supply lists which are longer each fall to equipment and uniform costs for team sports – almost every public school family is writing more checks. Where will it end? What have your experiences been? Stephanie Simon fielded reader questions about the “pay to play” trend, in a live chat on May 25. Replay the event.

A new profession has sprung up to come to your family’s aid. These so-called “homework helpers” differ from tutors in that they aren’t necessarily experts in Spanish grammar or geometry, according to a recent New York Times article. Instead, they’re more like classroom monitors who crack the metaphorical whip to make sure kids get their tasks done, instead of frittering away the afternoon or evening texting. They also help teach kids organizational skills and help them stay on top of the ever-growing pile of paperwork in their backpacks…

College majors often aren’t much help when it comes to finding a job. Among 11 of my family members who are in their 20s and 30s, less than half are working in fields related to their majors in undergrad school. Our family includes an English major now working as an Internet marketing executive, for example, and a history major who is a college track coach.

In that, our family is like many others. More than one-third of workers wish they had majored in something different, says a recent survey of 2,000 workers by CareerBuilder. Some 27% of workers who graduated from college 10 or more years ago still haven’t found a job related to their college major.

This is one reason for the rise in create-your-own-major programs at a growing number of colleges and universities, as described in my “Work & Family” column (and related video) today. A growing number of students who know what field they want to enter are designing their own programs of study with the help of a faculty adviser…

In the weeks ahead, millions of us will be attending parent-teacher conferences at our local schools. And we’ll arrive at the conference table with uncomfortable memories of the most-pointed comments teachers have made about our precious children.

For my column today, Moving On, I spoke to parents and teachers about the bruised feelings that are often a byproduct of conferences. Researchers and educational consultants are now exploring new techniques to improve and repair conferences, and to ease tensions between parents and teachers. They’re focusing on how teachers should choose their words, where parents should sit in a classroom (not in child-sized chairs, for one thing) and even how divorced couples should be accommodated. Some schools have students themselves lead the conferences. And for busy parents, some advocates have suggested alternatives to the traditional sit-down discussions, such as using Skype or videoconferencing. (More tips for improving parent-teacher meetings can be found in my column.)

About The Juggle

The Juggle examines the choices and tradeoffs people make as they juggle work and family. The site provides readers with news, insight and tips on parenting, workplace issues, commuting, caregiving and other issues busy readers with families face. It is also a place for readers to share and compare their own work-and-family experiences and to seek advice and recommendations. The Juggle is includes regular contributions from other staffers at the Journal. Contact the Juggle with ideas or suggestions at thejuggle@wsj.com

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